Are There Any Plans to Build a New Middle School in Crofton?

One reader asked the question, "Are there any plans in the future for Crofton to build another middle school? All I keep hearing about is how overcrowded Crofton Middle is. Considering, they built a new elementary school (Nantucket) which will feed into Crofton Middle; doesn't it just make sense at least, to start to think about building a new middle school?"

Simply put. No.

But yes, it certainly does make sense to come up with a plan for the Crofton students since our schools are overcrowded. There are schools worse off in Anne Arundel County then the ones in this community, but that doesn’t make us any happier.

Some twenty-plus years ago, back prior to 1985, there were actual plans for adding a 13th high school to Anne Arundel County to accommodate the feeder schools of Crofton and Gambrills.

There is land available on the back part of the property of the Crofton Middle School to build, but plans have been squelched for many years and nothing has happened except a lot of broken promises. Since adding another high school wasn’t feasible, due to the fact that there was no money to build or supply a new school, the school board redistricted the schools in our area.

Half of Crofton students attend Arundel High School; the other half attend South River High School based on the elementary school they attend. This in itself is a shame because if you have a child in middle school, you know these are hard teenage years and friendships are so very important.

 After eighth grade, the students in Crofton are split and sent in two different directions. Both of these high schools are also bulging at the seams with students.

A second middle school in Crofton is out of the question at this point. Eventually our lawmakers are going to have to realize that having 30-35 kids in a classroom is both taxing for the teachers and the students and something has to be done. Currently, this is the average class size at Crofton Middle School.

According to county records, there are no plans slated to add a new school to the Crofton/Gambrills area.